98 
VETERINARY SKETCHES. 
to practise as a surgeon, still attending St. Thomas’s and Guy’s 
Hospitals, and dissecting there. 
“ About 1792, he became acquainted with Sir Wathen Waller, 
Bart., then Mr. Phipps, one of the best oculists this metropolis 
has produced, and who attended the lectures of Mr. Cline. This 
acquaintance led him to study carefully the structure of the eye, 
and to make preparations of that organ, both human and compa- 
rative, and thus he was brought to know particularly the peculia- 
rities of the organization of the eye of the horse. 
“ M. St. Bel dying in the year 1793, Mr. Coleman and Mr. 
Moorcroft, by the recommendation of Mr. Hunter and Mr. Cline, 
were appointed to the professorship at the Veterinary College, 
which M. St. Bel had held : Mr. Moorcroft going soon after to the 
East Indies, Mr. Coleman became sole professor. His acute and 
active mind was immediately devoted to the formation of a good 
course of lectures on the Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathology of 
the Horse. 
“ Mr. Coleman published a treatise on Shoeing. His preceptor, 
Mr. Cline, who was much attached to the study of the horse, and 
had perused Clark’s work on Shoeing, instilled his principles into 
Mr. Coleman. These Mr. Coleman expanded and advocated, ex- 
posing the frog to pressure, leaving the foot in other respects much 
to itself; and, therefore, he advised shoeing with short shoes, and 
leaving the heels exposed. These speculative opinions, however, 
he improved upon as he proceeded in life ; and he afterwards saw 
the necessity of thinning the sole and the crust, in order to allow 
of the elastic spring of the foot. 
“ In 1799, he began to publish his great work upon the Anatomy 
of the Foot of the Horse, illustrated by numerous and excellent 
plates. This work was completed in 1802. It did him great 
credit, and was of much use to the veterinary profession. 
“ His chief excellence, however, was in his general physiological 
views. The effects of a confined atmosphere in close stables — 
the influence of heat and cold upon the horse — the effects of 
different kinds and quantities of food — the form of the animal 
best constituted for action, and the uses of the different organi- 
zations, were the subjects upon which he chiefly distinguished 
himself. 
